How to Become a Physical Education Teacher in Idaho

By ensuring that all PE teachers meet the right qualifications for certification, the Idaho Department of Education guarantees a high standard of classroom professionalism for K-12th students across the state. The Department of Education’s Teacher Certification Division is specifically charged with the task of verifying all prospective candidates meet the proper requirements for PE teacher jobs in Idaho.

Follow these steps to become qualified for an Idaho teaching certificate with an endorsement in the field of physical education:

Step 1. Earn a Bachelor’s Degree and Complete a PE Teaching Preparation Program or Alternative

PE teacher jobs in Idaho start by earning at least a bachelor’s degree in a PE-related academic major that includes an NCATE-accreditted (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) teacher preparation program.

If you are completing a bachelor’s degree program in PE that leads to an Idaho teaching certificate, a teaching preparation program will be included in your major. If you already have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a field related to physical education but have not completed a teacher certification program, you will need to complete a post-bachelor’s teacher preparation program to be eligible for certification. You must meet entry requirements for the preparation program of your choice.

As an alternative to traditional teacher preparation programs, you have the option of completing an assessment and mentoring program. There are several agencies in Idaho that offer Alternate Route Preparation Programs of this sort.

Alternate route preparation programs focus on similar information as teacher preparation programs. Curricula from both of these will include courses in:

Teaching physical education

Pedagogy

Development of motor skills

PE learning styles for pre-kindergarten through young adult

Sports learning and development

PE classroom management

PE curriculum development and planning

If you are a certified teacher in another state moving to Idaho, you are also eligible for an Idaho PE teaching certification if your program’s certification procedure is equivalent to Idaho’s.

One of the final segments in your PE teacher preparation program is student teaching. The alternate preparation program equivalent of this is referred to as mentored on-the-job training. During this segment you will be assigned to work with an experienced PE teacher or mentor who will give you valuable advice and instruction on how to be most effective. You will start out observing and assisting in the PE setting and gradually begin leading lessons. One of the most important aspects of this segment is the feedback you will receive from your supervising PE teacher or mentor. You will be expected to incorporate feedback into your future lesson plans.

As part of your teacher preparation program, you will also need to complete required testing.

Step 2. Complete the Required Testing

Your teacher preparation program will also be responsible for testing you to make sure you meet certain basic standards. Each preparation program is in charge of its own tests, however they will evaluate you on the same content:

Technology, how this can better the PE classroom, and your ability to adapt technology to PE activities

If you are already a certified teacher from out-of-state you can apply for an exemption to these tests. If you are completing an alternate preparation program you will need to complete an approved reading instruction course in lieu of these tests.

Praxis II PE: Content Knowledge Exam

The Praxis II Physical Education: Content Knowledge Exam will specifically evaluate your understanding in the subject area of physical education and how to teach it. Unlike your teacher preparation program tests, this exam is administered through the national testing provider ETS (Educational Testing Services). Passing this will allow you to list PE as an endorsement area on your application for teaching certification.

ETS provides a convenient study guide for this exam. You will have two hours to complete questions in four subject areas:

Student growth, development, and content knowledge – 36 questions

Communication, motivation, and management – 30 questions

Student assessment, instruction, and planning – 30 questions

Technology, reflection, and collaboration – 24 questions

If you are an out-of-state PE teacher you are exempt from this exam if you can provide one of the following:

Verification that you have NBPTS PE Certification

Your home state’s department of education can provide the Idaho Department of Education with a letter stating that you are a highly qualified PE teacher

Step 3. Apply for Idaho PE Teacher Certification

When you have completed your path to becoming qualified for a PE teaching certificate, you will need to submit an Form B1 – Application for an Idaho Certificate/Credential to the Idaho State Department of Education in Boise. A standard Idaho teaching certificate is valid for five years beginning September 1st and expires on August 31st.

To renew this certificate you will need to complete six semester credit hours of relevant coursework. Three of these must be from a college or university and appear on a transcript, while the remaining three may be from in-service trainings.

To be considered as valid, these credits must:

Be related to the field of PE

Be related to pedagogy

Be related to your own personal development as a PE teacher

1 in-service credit is equivalent to 15 contact hours

While you will not need to submit proof of these with your application for renewal, you may be asked to do so if you are randomly audited.

Alternative Route Certificate –If you are applying for a teaching certification through an Alternate Route Preparation Program, you need to submit an Alternative Authorization Application.

You will need to renew this each year for a maximum or three years total. If you meet the performance and testing requirements, you may then at this point apply to convert your alternate certification into a normal teaching certification that is valid for five years.

Step 4. Advance in Your PE Teaching Career

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)

If you are an out-of-state PE teacher with NBPTS Certification you may be eligible for an exemption to the Praxis II PE: Content Knowledge Exam. However that is not the only benefit of this voluntary certification; having National Board Certification in the field of PE can also increase your yearly pay.

The Idaho Department of Education offers all its PE teachers who are NBPTS-Certified a $2,000 stipend. This is in recognition of the skills a National Board Certification signifies. Becoming certified is a long and involved process with the ultimate goal of improving your teaching effectiveness in the physical education setting. As part of the certification process you will need to submit evidence in the form of job evaluations, recorded teaching examples, and student assessment results, which should all reflect a measured amount of skill development in your PE students. Building up this evidence portfolio can take months if not years, and when you are ready you can submit this to the NBPTS. Professionals will review your portfolio and decide if it merits National Board Certification.

Searching for PE Teacher Jobs in Idaho

Idaho Education Jobs is a website for Idaho teachers who are seeking employment opportunities. Here you can search for PE teacher jobs across the state by region and grade. The website also has useful links about:

Teacher education programs

Becoming certified

Job fairs

Professional Organizations

You may also wish to consider joining a professional organization made up of your teaching peers. Two prominent organizations active in the state are:

NWPE works in partnership with the Association of American Educators to provide certain services to PE teachers in Idaho. With NWPE you can find legal help, liability insurance, and additional professional support.

The IDEA was founded in 1892 as the Idaho Education Association and has a long history of supporting Idaho’s teachers and advancing important issues in the teaching field. Most recently the Association has been advocating for PE teacher pay, budgets, and more favorable conditions of employment.

Phys Ed Teacher Salary in Idaho

It has been found by the Idaho Department of Labor that the average physical education teacher salary in Idaho is $50,361. The middle range of all salaries statewide is between $34,665 and $62,199, which creates a pretty wide variance of about 44%. Entry-level salary for physical education teachers averages around $27,104 per year.

It’s important to look at salary by district because salary does tend to fluctuate geographically. Here is a brief look at how PE teachers with a bachelor’s degree are paid by the Boise Independent School District: